When it comes to the future of our careers, a little advice can go a long way. We often turn to coaches, mentors and people we trust.
So what can we learn from successful people that can apply to us? While doing research on the topic, I found an article on career advice from some of the world’s most successful people, and I would like to share this advice with you below:
Opera Winfrey
Media Mogul and TV show host
“Three things”
Three things that will carry you if you let them:
1- Know who you are and what you want.
2- You must find a way to serve. The service and the significance that you bring to your service is that which is lasting.
3- Always do the right thing. Be excellent, people notice. Let excellence be your brand.
Jeff Weiner
CEO of LinkedIn
“Three pieces”
Three pieces of advice that changed his life:
1- You can do anything you set your mind to (from his father). Decide what you want to do (balance for skill and passion) and then start working towards it.
2- Everything that can be converted from atom to bit will be (from a book “Being Digital”). In other words, everything physical that can be made digital will be as technology advances.
3- Do you want to push paper around or do you want to build products that change people’s lives? (from then COO of Yahoo, Dan Rosensweig). Focus your energy on things that will have an impact that correlates to your goals in life.
Eric Schmidt
Former Google CEO
“Have a coach”
“Everybody needs a coach. Every famous athlete, every famous performer has somebody who is a coach. Somebody who can watch what they are doing at them Give them perspective. The one thing that people are never good at is seeing themselves as others see them. A coach really really helps.”
Richard Branson
Entrepreneur and Founder of Virgin Group
“Focus on the people”
“Focus on the people. Find the best people to run the company. Make sure they are properly incentivised, properly motivated, and give them freedom to go ahead and make good things.”
Steve Jobs
Entrepreneur & Founder of Apple
“Don’t settle”
In his Stanford commencement speech, Steve delivered one of the most inspiring speeches of our time. It’s a three part speech:
Connect the dots: You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.
Don’t settle: Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.
Death is the best motivator: Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Now what advice would I offer to an earlier version of myself based on what I have learned to this point?
“Adaptability is the key”
You will never have an exact map with directions of how your future career will pan out. While it is important to set goals and targets, remember to expect the unexpected. Paths change, some choices may not work out as you may have wanted but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be open to new opportunities and go with the flow. You will be amazed at where life can take you if you are more open and flexible to changing circumstances.
What career advice has been passed on to you that has led you to where you are today? What advice could you offer to someone else based on what you have learned?
